The Economist has published Urban Poverty in India: A flourishing slum. It reads unlike anything they have published before. Their correspondent describes the experience of living in Dharavi for a few days, and provides plenty of first hand accounts and personal quotes.

Fascinating reading, and a complete break from the typical Economist article which is usually accompanied by statistics and quotes from analysts or researchers. If the provision of electricity and water to Dharavi was a requirement for the booming micro-industries, imagine what improved infrastructure would do to the city as a whole. Not only will improved infrastructure will be beneficial to commerce, it sounds like it is necessary for Bombay's survival:

And yet over the next decade, the UN says the population of Mumbai will almost double, making it the world's second-biggest city after Tokyo.